Discussion: Successful Business People
Discussion: Successful Business People

Similar to the fifth edition, every chapter begins with a navigation “box” to help the reader understand the flow and key topics of the chapter. Further, most chapters continue to have a Social Business Lens or a Geographic Lens feature. The Social Business Lens feature reflects on an issue related to the chapter’s main topic but is enabled by or fundamental to using social technologies in the enterprise. The Geographic Lens feature offers a single idea about a global issue related to the chapter’s main topic.

No text in the field of MIS is completely current. The process of writing the text coupled with the publication process makes a book somewhat out‐of‐date prior to delivery to its audience. With that in mind, this text is written

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vi Preface

to summarize the “timeless” elements of using and managing information. Although this text is complete in and of itself, learning is enhanced by combining the chapters with the most current readings and cases. Faculty are encouraged to read the news items on the faculty Hub before each class in case one might be relevant to the topic of the day. Students are encouraged to search the Web for examples related to topics and current events and bring them into the discussions of the issues at hand. The format of each chapter begins with a navigational guide, a short case study, and the basic language for a set of important management issues. These are followed by a set of managerial concerns related to the topic. The chapter concludes with a summary, key terms, a set of discussion questions, and case studies.
Who should read this book? General managers interested in participating in IS decisions will find this a good reference resource for the language and concepts of IS. Managers in the IS field will find the book a good resource for beginning to understand the general manager’s view of how IS affect business decisions. And IS students will be able to use the book’s readings and concepts as the beginning in their journey to become informed and success- ful businesspeople.

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.